Wildflowers in the Garden

The spring wildflowers I planted in my California Natives bed continue on their way. In my last post I showed a photo of mostly-greens with some hints of the apricot of our local Sticky Monkeyflower and the purple-y blues of the Foothill Penstemon 'Margarita BOP.'  But that was weeks ago and now all sorts of colors have inserted themselves into the scene!

Now, crowding in next to the penstemon, Tidy Tips are going nuts.

In among the mounds of poppy foliage, the Goldfields are smiling at the world.

A Lupine stand tall above its foliage with the Sticky Monkeyflower watching in the background.

Here and there among the Goldfields and Tidy Tips and Poppy foliage, a Bluebell pokes its face out of the crowd.

One of the things I decided to try this year was a packet of mixed colors California Poppies (as opposed to the common satiny orange). One of the colors that has popped up is a claret-colored poppy.

Would you believe that all of these flowers are packed into just the front half of this flower bed next to my driveway in San Jose?

You may or may not have noticed the odd weed here and there (I certainly notice, but can't get to them without stepping on something happy). I've also noticed the occasional sunflower sprouting among the natives. Giant, seed-making sunflowers were growing here last year. We'll see what comes of them this year. 

The Western Redbud is now fully leafed-out. No blossoms this year, but it's only been in the ground for a year now. Maybe next year. The Blue Elderberry never completely lost its leaves and hasn't bloomed yet, but it's also only been in the ground for a year now and the naturally-occurring Blue Elderberries are only now bursting into bloom.

In a later post, I'll put together a collection of all the colors of poppies in my garden. So far there's cream, claret, a two-toned mahogany-and-orange, and the standard satiny orange.